The darkness of Kamui was absolute.
No ground, no sky. Just pure void, shaped by the will of its inhabitant.
Riser stood, his black cloak swaying without wind. Before him, a window of distorted space opened like a shattered mirror, revealing the real world beyond.
On the other side of the rift, an isolated island. The stage of a celebration.
Riser watched in silence.
The sea around the island was calm, with lazy waves brushing the golden sand. A stage, drinks, music. Women laughing. Pirates dancing. And at the center of the chaos, Marshall D. Teach.
Blackbeard roared with laughter, his belly shaking with each burst.
"ZEHAHAHAHA! THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT I'VE GOT PLANNED!"
He raised his mug, wine spilling down his stained beard.
"Shichibukai? That's just the start! When I unleash the monsters from that Impel Down pit… this world will know my name as the greatest of all!"
His crew roared, toasting in unison.
Burgess hurled barrels into the air, catching them with one arm.
Van Augur cleaned his rifle's scope in silence, his eyes scanning the forest's edge.
Laffitte twirled with a drunken woman in his arms, his steps elegant as if at a noble ball.
Doc Q coughed violently but grinned. His horse neighed softly beside him, restless.
Riser remained silent.
In Kamui, time seemed nonexistent. He analyzed them all. Teach's voice, Van Augur's patrol pattern, the placement of weapons, the number of men.
'No real defensive formation. They expect no enemies. Fools.'
His eyes glinted for a moment.
'They don't deserve the title they carry.'
He took a step.
The Kamui dimension folded around him.
A black whirlpool opened in the air, soundless. As if reality itself were making way for an intruder.
On the torch-lit beach, the women stopped dancing.
The sound of barrels cracking against wood ceased.
The air trembled.
The distortion spun, spiraling in the center of the clearing, mere meters from the makeshift throne where Teach laughed like a satisfied pig.
And then—
FWOOSH.
Riser emerged from the void.
His boots hit the ground with a dry thud. No dust, no displaced air. Just presence.
His golden eyes swept over the group.
Silence fell like a blow.
"Sorry to interrupt…"
He adjusted the cuff of his cloak with a simple gesture, the Mangekyō spinning in his left eye.
"…but I came to congratulate the new Shichibukai comrade."
The smile froze on Teach's lips.
"Who—?"
His voice died before finishing.
Riser's Haki erupted.
A black-and-gold wave swept the clearing like contained thunder. The women fainted instantly. Lesser pirates collapsed like dry leaves, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.
Burgess roared, clutching his head with both hands.
Van Augur staggered, his eyes wide for the first time in years.
Doc Q fell to his knees, coughing blood.
Only three remained standing: Blackbeard, Laffitte… and Riser.
Teach gritted his teeth, sweat streaming down his forehead.
"What do you want, you bastard?! No guts to show up for war… so you strike in the dark?!"
Riser took a step forward.
"I don't strike in the dark."
The sand beneath his feet smoldered.
The Kamui spun in his left eye. Laffitte tried to move, but his arm vanished first, then his shoulder, then his entire body.
Silence.
The space where Laffitte had stood closed as if it had never existed.
Doc Q raised his head. His trembling hands reached for his horse. A hoarse whisper escaped his lips:
"Monster…"
The response came in flames.
Riser extended his right hand. Black-and-gold fire erupted from his palm like a living whip. The incandescent serpent shot through the air and coiled around the old doctor and his horse in a lethal embrace.
The scream was drowned by an explosion.
Burgess tried to lift a massive boulder. His eyes twisted with rage, muscles pulsing with raw power.
"YOU—!"
The fire spell hit his chest.
His armor cracked.
His torso exploded.
Blood sprayed in a dull arc.
Van Augur aimed by instinct. His finger trembled on the trigger. The scope aligned with Riser's head.
Kamui activated.
The bullet was swallowed by space.
And then, the sniper's arm.
Van Augur screamed, collapsing.
The second fiery serpent enveloped his body.
The stench of burning flesh filled the clearing.
Blackbeard's eyes darted, in shock.
One step back. Another.
But the world seemed unresponsive.
Everyone dead.
'No… this can't be…'
Riser stared at him in silence, the Mangekyō spinning like the wheel of a verdict.
Teach fell to his knees, his hands buried in the sand.
'Damn you… why? Why did you have to show up? I was going to rule it all…!'
His fingers clawed the ground, his teeth grinding.
'I'm Blackbeard…! I'll kill you, you hear me?! I'LL KILL YOU!!!'
The shadows of the Yami Yami no Mi began to ripple.
But the Kamui was already in motion.
Teach's right arm vanished silently.
The scream came seconds later.
"AARRRRGGHHHH!!"
Riser approached slowly.
With each step, the sand trembled.
His golden eyes glowed with absolute indifference.
Teach tried to crawl.
"WAIT… WE CAN SPLIT THIS! I CAN—!"
His left hand vanished.
The scream died in his throat.
The fire came next. A narrow ring, a wall of flames around Blackbeard, blocking escape. The blaze rose ten meters into the air, casting heat and smoke that made the air shimmer.
Teach screamed until his voice gave out.
His body began to burn.
Riser walked in a straight line.
Dust clung to his boots.
The enemy's skin dissolved into smoke.
The Kamui enveloped the head.
It vanished.
The rest of the body collapsed.
The clearing fell silent again.
Just embers. Ashes.
And the crackle of fire.
Riser stood before the headless corpse.
Shadows danced around.
The smell of burned flesh spread.
"System."
[Connection established.]
"Extract the Akuma no Mi from the corpse."
[Detected: Yami Yami no Mi (Darkness Fruit).]
[Preparing extraction…]
Teach's charred chest glowed for a moment. A purple symbol appeared above the body—distorted, chaotic, ravenous.
The fruit emerged from the void: black, spinning as if it wanted to devour the air around it. Its gravitational energy made the sand vibrate.
[Extraction complete.]
[Yami Yami no Mi added to inventory.]
[Luck Points: 31,500.]
Riser stared at the fruit for a second before it vanished.
Silence enveloped him again.
"The darkness doesn't belong to him."
A whirlpool appeared beside him.
The Kamui opened its silent maw.
The fire still burned around.
But the shadow at the center was already gone.
FWOOSH.
The world returned to its usual state.
No party.
No Blackbeard.
No witnesses.
Just the trace of Riser's justice.
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